Seeing Her Face
by gilmorefanforever
Summary: Fate brought them together. A choice had developed their friendship. But it was falling in love with her that Luke had had no control over. Java Junkie three parter. COMPLETE.
1. Meeting You

Seeing Her Face 

**Rating:** K+

**Disclaimer: **Amy created them, DR ruined them, but I just like to play with them.

Hi all! Yep, this is a new story. But it is NOT a chapter story, just to clarify. Because then I wouldn't be allowed to write it, considering I promised myself that there would be no more chapter stories until at least two of my three are complete. That being said, this story will have three _parts_, all posted at once. So... you could just consider it a long, three part oneshot. Anyway, this story is based off a challenge at BWR, which is this quote:

"Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you, I had no control over."

Adorable, don't you think so? So, I wrote it down, and then, a few days ago, the perfect idea hit me really hard in the shower (and didn't even apologize!). So... here it is!

**Part 1: Meeting You**

He was arguing with Kirk when she blew in, and he didn't notice her until she was right behind him.

"Hi, I'll have coffee," she said. He rolled his eyes.

"Good to know. Now, you can tell me that again when it's your turn to order, but now, go sit down and wait." He walked away as Kirk was in the middle of a sentence, tired of him, and stepped around the woman to serve a couple by the window. Appearing offended, she followed closely behind him.

"Okay, so I think you misunderstood me a second ago. What I meant was 'I _need_ coffee.' Immediately would be best. You see, coffee has the happy caffeine in it. Without the happy caffeine, I would not be the charming being standing before you, I'd probably kill you, actually."

"Hmm, you might want to try to avoid that," he told her, stepping around her once again. She followed him.

"Okay, so... what's your name?" He grabbed a menu off a newly empty table and handed it to her. "Luke. So, you're the owner of this place, huh? That explains why you still have a job here... because, quite frankly, you're pretty rude."

"Look lady, in case you didn't notice, it's the middle of the lunch rush, and I don't have time for this. Sit down, shut up, and I will get to you when I get to you!"

"That's exactly what I mean! I am a paying customer! You can't speak to me like that. I mean, I could just walk out of here and take my money to Weston's!" He glared at her, as if challenging her to do just that. "Alright, alright," she walked over to the counter, pulling out a stool and sitting down. She waved her arms around dramatically. "See? My butt is on the stool, I am no longer standing up, this, in most cultures, is referred to as sitting. So you can stop looking at me like that. Do you want your face to freeze like that?" He continued to glare at her. "And now I'm shutting up." He nodded and turned away, shaking his head when he heard the now familiar voice ask, "Can I see that newspaper?"

When he passed her again, she was staring at him. "What?"

"When's your birthday?" she asked. He gave her a confused look.

"My what?"

"You know, the day that you came out of your mother's uterus, the one day a year when you can stuff yourself with cake and not feel ashamed..."

"I don't eat cake," he said. Her eyes widened.

"I-You know what, I'm not even going to comment on that... when's your birthday?"

"Why do you care?" She sighed.

"Just tell me!"

"I don't even know you!"

"Do you want me to whip out my Louis Armstrong voice?" she threatened. "Because I will!"

"Excuse me?"

"Hello, Dolly!" she said, impersonating Louis Armstrong very loudly. "This is Louis, Dolly! I'll be coming 'round the diner singing-"

"November twelfth!" he practically yelled. She grinned and cleared her throat. He snuck away to serve another customer and returned behind the counter a few minutes later. She was apparently trying to get his attention. He tried to ignore her, but was forced to acknowledge her when he noticed her wad up a napkin and aim it at his head. "What?" She held out a piece of paper, a smile on her face. He sighed and took it from her hand, quickly recognizing it as a clipping from the Hartford Courant. "What the hell is this?" The woman's smile widened.

"Read it," she insisted. He rolled his eyes and glanced back to the clipping in his hand. It was from the Horoscope section, and under Scorpio, the newsprint was scribbled out, and scrawled in pen were the words _you will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee, and she will go away_. He resisted the urge to smile, instead directing his attention back to the woman.

"This true?" She nodded eagerly.

"Scout's honor," she promised, holding up three fingers. "Just give me some coffee and I will get out of your hair, stop following you around-" He tapped the counter once, directing the babbling woman's attention to the full to-go cup sitting in front of her. "Oh. Thanks. Now, wasn't that easy?" He rolled his eyes, and she took a sip as he walked away. "This is a mighty fine cup of coffee, Duke."

"It's Luke," he corrected.

"Oh, I know." She rose from the counter and began to leave, but turned back at the last second. "Keep that horoscope in your wallet. You know, carry it around. I bet it will bring you luck one day." And with that, she exited the diner, leaving seventy five cents and a very confused diner owner behind her. After she was gone, he looked at the horoscope, and slipped it into his pocket.

The annoying woman didn't go away, as it turns out. She was back the very next day, ordering a cup of coffee and a burger with fries. When Luke saw her, he raised an eyebrow, causing her to smirk.

"I have a secret," she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I never was a scout."


	2. Becoming Your Friend

**Part 2: Becoming Your Friend**

He soon found out the annoying woman had a name: Lorelai Gilmore.

Soon after that, he discovered that she also had a daughter. Rory Gilmore was a slightly quiter version of Lorelai, in his opinion, whose interests included reading and school. Although he usually had nothing nice to say about anyone who wasn't at least five feet tall, he took an instant liking to the girl. The Gilmores began to come into the diner almost daily, and on the rare days they didn't, as much as he hated to admit it, he missed them, Lorelai especially.

The was just something about her that always brightened his day. He could be fuming, ranting and bright red in the face, and a well timed smile from Lorelai could make it all go away in an instant. Half the time he had no idea what she was talking about, but he payed close attention to her every word. As much as he pretended to be annoyed by her, he knew that Lorelai had become his favorite customer.

She even started calling him by his real name, eventually. It took almost two years, but one day she came into the diner, alone, and asked _Luke_ to bring her a cup of coffee. He raised an eyebrow. "Luke?"

"Would you _prefer _Duke?" she asked him dryly, taking a seat at the counter. He shook his head, and then looked at her closely. Something was off. That day, she wasn't the vibrant, confident woman he had grown used to. She looked depressed, even on the verge of tears. Without argument, he poured her a cup of coffee and set it in front of her.

"Thanks." She took a sip and put her head in her hands, leaning against the counter.

"Lorelai?" She didn't look up. "Lorelai, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she murmured. "Nothing's wrong." He swore he heard her sniffle. "I'm just tired." He didn't believe that for a second.

"Lorelai, there's no way _you _can be tired. You drink so much coffee that you probably have a stored up supply of caffeine in your body," he tried to joke. Lorelai didn't respond, and he sighed. "Lorelai..."

"It's Rory's birthday," she said suddenly, looking up. "Did you know that?" He hadn't. "Lucky number thirteen. My girl's a teenager." She gave a sad smile. "Chris didn't call." He was confused.

"Chris?" Lorelai gave him a look, and it clicked. "Rory's dad."

"Not a phone call, not a letter, not a carrier pigeon, a hug-o-gram, nothing!" She sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to tell her, Luke. I don't know!" Not sure what to do, since he'd never been good with crying women, he grabbed a donut and placed it in front of her. She looked up at him questionably.

"I'm here," he said quietly. Lorelai looked surprised, but then began to speak.

"I'm not sure why I'm so surprised. You know what, I'm not surprised. He does this every year, every holiday." She sighed. "Every time. He's practically a stranger to his own daughter. If you asked him what her favorite color was, he would have no idea."

"Blue," he muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"It's blue, isn't it? She told me that the other day." Lorelai smiled.

"Yeah," she said. "It's blue." She studied him for a moment, then continued.

"It still hurts, though. That he doesn't care. You think he would be a _bit _more mature than he was when he was sixteen, step up as a father, by now. But he didn't... I grew up the moment the stick turned pink, but Chris..."

"You're doing a great job," he assured her. "With Rory." She smiled.

He was never Duke again.

Two weeks later, he got a phone call from Lorelai. Her porch rail was broken, and she was low on money. Although she had only been calling to see if he knew anyone who would repair it for cheap, he rushed over, no charge.

One month later, Rory came down with a bad case of the chicken pox, and would eat nothing but homemade mashed potatoes. He told Lorelai not to panic and went over, grocery bag in hand.

The next year, Lorelai was promoted at the Inn. She burst into the diner triumphantly, inviting him to have some celebratory champange. Despite his hatred of champagne, he choked down a glass and listened to her go on about how excited she was. Lorelai Gilmore was no longer only his favorite customer.

She was his friend.


	3. Falling In Love With You

**Part 3: Falling in Love With You **

Lorelai soon found her way into his thoughts. He tried to play it off as mere attraction. A blind man would be attracted to her, he told himself. Surely he wasn't the only one who noticed the confidence, the beauty that radiated off of her whenever she entered a room.

He wasn't deaf, he heard the rumors.

The first time had been about three years after he and Lorelai had met. She had stopped in for a quick cup of coffee before heading to the inn, and they had talked for a bit. Well, _she _had talked. He had just nodded from time to time and pretended that he understood her insane ramblings. After she had left for work, promising that she'd return later, Patty and Babette had promptly began discussing the scene in what they thought was a whisper.

"Aren't those two just the sweetest thing?" Babette had asked excitedly. Patty nodded eagerly in agreement.

"I haven't seen Luke that happy since Rachel," she said. "And Lorelai's such a sweet girl. They really would be perfect for each other."

"And have you seen them? Imagine the children!" Patty sighed dreamily.

"Oh, to be young and in love." The two had turned to him, smiles on their faces, then moved on to the next item of gossip, something about Jerry Cutler's new wife. He, however, was confused.

Love? They thought he was in love with Lorelai? There was no way. She was annoying, a caffeine addict, and her taste in food made his stomach churn. Half the time he had no clue what she was saying, and the other half, when he could understand her, she still left him confused.

But, then again, she was never unwelcome to the diner. And her need for coffee and junk food was what kept her coming back. Her immaturity worked for her, and her endless babbles were just one of the many quirks he had grown used to.

That certainly didn't mean he loved her.

Sure, when Max came along, he felt uneasy. The guy wasn't her type. Bookish, and boring. She seemed happy, though, and he had Rachel. It wasn't his place. He made her a chuppah, he went to her party. But the news of Lorelai calling off the engagement brought free coffee to everyone in the diner.

Christopher had always bugged him, but really, who didn't he bug? Anyone who couldn't see what a great daughter he had, who chose to ignore an amazing girl like Rory, didn't deserve her. And that smirk he always seemed to wear on the face annoyed him to no end.

The summer after Jess and Rory's accident had been hard. Every time the bell above the diner's door rang, his head had shot up, hoping Lorelai would come bouncing. She didn't, and that brought extreme disappointment, but only because he missed his _friend_ and wanted to apologize for all the cruel things he had said to her.

At least that's what he told himself.

He couldn't pinpoint the exact moment he really had fallen in love with Lorelai. Maybe there wasn't a specific moment at all. Maybe he had been in love with her all along. One moment did stick out clearly in his mind, however. The precise second when nearly eight years of denial crashed down on top of him and he realized that Lorelai Gilmore would never just be his _friend_. It was all because of some stupid self help tapes.

_"Do you see her face?" _

Luke looked up suddenly, a rag in his hands, and shock plastered on his face. He _did_.

**There you have it. My plot bunny fulfilled. Maybe now Bella will let me focus on one of my existing stories, which are in major need for an update. Thanks for reading!**


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